Popular New York-based gossip website Gawker has been using its own editors' opinions to rank U.S. states in what they're calling "The Worst 50 States in America." Yesterday they released ranks 26-33 and Maryland was number 33. (Just a note: Because it's the 50 worst states, the lower the number means the more the editors like the state.)

Gawker editors did contend that "the whole Chesapeake area is definitely pretty" and that blue crabs here "are very delicious to eat," but when it came time to discuss Baltimore, things got vicious. They, of course, used the age-old reference to The Wire and called our city a "murder-ridden horrorhole." 

While I realize the whole thing is in jest (they mention The Blair Witch Project under Maryland's cons), it would have been nice for Gawker to do some ounce of research. I'm sure some of their editors have been...

According to Baltimore city health officials, the city has seen an 11 percent increase in rabid bats this year, with 12 having already tested positive for rabies.

Officials reported last Friday that they have seized a total of 183 bats so far this year. Last year Maryland health officials seized 222 bats with only 11 of them testing positively for rabies.

This news arrives just as the recently released report of the death of a 19-year-old Mexican migrant farm worker died last August after catching rabies when a vampire bat bit his foot while sleeping.

Although the bats may seem dangerous, the threat of the rabies spreading from the “winged rodents” to humans is not as severe as it may seem. The last reported case of human rabies in Maryland was in 1976, according to the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. 

-Summer editorial intern Tyler Green wrote this piece

Recently, there have been a couple announcements that our city and state are getting federal funding for two separate historic tributes.

The first piece of news, announced yesterday, is that Baltimore acquired nearly $1.6 million in federal funding to add an additional line to the Charm City Circulator. The new line—to be finished within the next year—will take riders from downtown to Fort McHenry and it will be called the "Star Spangled Banner" route. The idea is that the new line will ease congestion surrounding the War of 1812 bicentennial celebrations next year.

Additionally, today Gov. Martin O'Malley is expected to announce that Maryland received $8.5 million for the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center in Cambridge. The new center will unite a...

It’s every baseball fan’s dream, to catch a home-run ball. For Orioles fan Tim Anderson, this dream became a reality not just once, but on three different occasions. It just so happens that these three occasions took place over the course of three days, during this week’s series against the Chicago White Sox.

Watch the video below, as during last night’s game, Anderson bolts across the empty left-field stands before finally jumping in the air and catching the ball. His determination in getting to the ball, and dedication to the team, clearly paid off for Anderson as his story caught the attention of both MLB.com and ESPN’s SportsCenter.

Maybe the Orioles can attempt to capitalize on the recent publicity provided by Anderson to try and fill more seats. With the stadium fill having been incredibly underwhelming recently with the exception of the usual New York and Boston match-ups, the crew down at Camden needs to do anything they can to get fans there.

Video Link

-Summer editorial intern Tyler Green wrote this piece.

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